CalicoPenn

If the Lodge or Chapter paid for the costumes, it belongs to the Lodge or Chapter and getting back is as simple as telling the person to return the items or be charged with theft. If it's the individual's personal costumes, then they belong to him and the Lodge/Chapter should start working on putting together their own inventory. It's not unusual for dance team members to have their own costumes, apart and separate from the lodge's costumes. It would be unusual for one individual to own all the costumes for a Lodge/Chapter. Side note: It is NOT regalia - no matter how much foolish people like to use that word. Frankly, the use of the word regalia to describe these costumes is silly and shows an incredible ingnorance of the English language, and American Indian traditions. Regalia refers to the symbols of a Sovereign - it's the crown, the orb, the sceptors, coronation clothing, etc. That is regalia. Some might argue that Allowat Sakima's headress is regalia, I suppose, but that would just show ignorance of American Indian traditions. Chiefs were and are not Kings or Sovereigns. For actual American Indian dancers, what they wear at a dance is an outfit. For all others, it is a costume - clothes worn to make a person look like somebody or something else. If you aren't an American Indian, and you are dressing up like an American Indian, whether to dance, or to lead a ceremony, you are wearing a costume.

Gee, you're not a month early - you're 8 months early, you got the wrong ship, and it hasn't been a hundred years quite yet: The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee." The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy. With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty, that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed when the "Gales of November" came early. The ship was the pride of the American side coming back from some mill in Wisconsin. As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most with a crew and good captain well seasoned, concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms when they left fully loaded for Cleveland. And later that night when the ship's bell rang, could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'? The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound and a wave broke over the railing. And ev'ry man knew, as the captain did too 'twas the witch of November come stealin'. The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait when the Gales of November came slashin'. When afternoon came it was freezin' rain in the face of a hurricane west wind. When suppertime came the old cook came on deck sayin'. "Fellas, it's too rough t'feed ya." At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said, "Fellas, it's bin good t'know ya!" The captain wired in he had water comin' in and the good ship and crew was in peril. And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Does any one know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours? The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er. They might have split up or they might have capsized; they may have broke deep and took water. And all that remains is the faces and the names of the wives and the sons and the daughters. Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings in the rooms of her ice-water mansion. Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams; the islands and bays are for sportsmen. And farther below Lake Ontario takes in what Lake Erie can send her, And the iron boats go as the mariners all know with the Gales of November remembered. In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed, in the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral." The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald. The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee." "Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead when the gales of November come early!"

"And at this point I dont trust them enough to consider being an ASM." If you don't trust them at this point to be an ASM, why would you trust them to be SM? At this point I would find another unit to serve in, even as an ASM, and be open and ready to recruit the lads from this unit if it starts to fail, making sure any of that unit's committee members get the opportunity to hold one position at the new unit - parent.

I'm not celebrating pie day again until 3/14/15 on which date I will eat a slice of pie starting at 9:26 am (3.1415926)

I think I'd rather have a Scout wearing a PFD who couldn't swim than a Scout who could swim if a canoe were to swamp. A Scout who can't swim is more likely to stay with the darn boat, which even though it's swamped, is still floating and can be held on to. Too often in these kinds of situations, it's the person who decides to swim for shore that drowns rather than the one that stays with the boat.

If you're an adult who is in it for the prestige, then you're in it for the wrong reasons. If you're worried about your level versus others, then you don't have enough to do. There is only one way to handle someone trying to play the "I'm better than you" prestige game, and that's to look them straight in the eye and laugh in their face, then ignore them forever more. Want to see real prestige in Scouting? Check out the 12 SPL's gathering together on the first night of camporee to collect important information for the weekend. Check out the PLC meeting after a Troop meeting to go over plans. Check out the Den of Cub Scouts doing a flag ceremony on Veterans day. Watch a Police Explorer Post directing traffic at a community event. Watch a Venturing Crew climbing Mt. Katahdin at the end of a week long backpacking trip. Watch a Den Chief be awarded the Den Chief Service Award in front of his Pack and Den. Visit a Pack Meeting where Bobcats, Tigers, Wolves, Bears and Webelos are being recognized for their accomplishments. Visit a Troop Court-of Honor and watch a Tenderfoot (or any other rank) be recognized for his accomplishments. Check out the Sea Scouts racing in a regatta. Watch a Chapter Chief make an announcement at a Roundtable. Watch a Lodge Chief, and the other Lodge Officers, run a vibrant program for an OA Lodge full of youth and adults from all over the Council. Watch a Section Chief or National Chief address your Council's Executive Board. Watch a youth member quietly accept a heroism award. Attend a Court of Honor and watch a young person be awarded the Eagle Scout rank, the Venturing Silver award or the Sea Scouting Quartermaster Award. Prestige? That's real prestige.

Let's not forget that as we've become a nation looking for instant gratitude, we've also become a nation expecting everything to work perfectly every time. However, that's just not how things work in the world, especially in the rural areas, and despite the proximity of Rockford and Beloit, this area is mostly rural farmland. Assumptions are being made by the Sheriff's office that don't take into account the real world. We seem to forget that a cell phone is more than just a physical piece of equipment. Much depends on the carrier we're using. One of the assumptions the Sheriff is making is that the lads would have had a cell phone using a carrier that would have strong service in that area - but it's just as likely that the lads would have a cell phone with strong service in Mendota but very weak service where they were - just because of the differences in carriers. It's not that unusual away from urban areas to have someone who contracts with Company A showing strong bars on their cell phone while standing next to someone who contracts with Company B that has low or no bars on their phone. Now before someone jumps all over me, I'm not saying don't bring a cell phone - it should be part of a modern survival kit - I'm just saying, don't rely on it as if it's the single and best solution.

Frankly, this story is disturbing for reasons well beyond cell phones. To echo Beavah, 4 well-equipped Scouts without a cell phone seemed to get rescued just fine - and while the point that if they had one, they might have been found sooner is taken, that's provided of course that the batteries hadn't worn down and that the Scouts were just lost and hadn't ended up in swamped canoes with everything wet. It still wouldn't have prevented a search party, but it might have happened sooner. What's disturbing is first, peridochas point that somehow they left the portage area without accounting for all present - though I suspect that what happened is that the two canoes (4 scouts = 2 canoes) were present and accounted for after the portage but lost sight of the canoes in front of them in a river system that south of Sugar River Park (just north of the IL/WI border) has fairly close set bends and plenty of opportunities to turn off a main channel. Once into Illinois, there are fewer opportunities to get sidetracked onto a side channel. If the Scouts were founf about 2 miles north of the IL/WI Border, and they had been paddling most of the afternoon, and not just lollygagging around, they likely hit one of the side channels that took them on a dead-end run. Second, if the report is correct (and the media often have a way of getting things wrong so it may or may not be), they Troop was on the river with ONE Scout Leader. Now maybe the unit was counting people transporting equipment as part of their leadership for the outing as a whole, but there really should have been at least 2 leaders dedicated to being in the canoes. Of course, having a second adult leader along may or may not have prevented it anyway, but it is another set of eyes. Third, and most disturbing - once they discovered the 4 boys missing, why did they wait to contact the authorities until after they arrived at their destination? It's not like the river is 100 miles from anywhere in that part of Northern Illinois. There are plenty of opportunities along the Illinois stretch of the river to find a place to contact the authorities and get a search started - only then should you head down to your final destination. It's all well and good to paddles back upstream to see if you can find the Scouts but unless you explore the side channels yourself, you won't likely find them - and it assumes they are still actually in canoes afloat and not on a bank somewhere with someone hurt, or assumes that they haven't swamped. On the other hand, we should be ready to count this as a success for the BSA program as well - sure, there were some failures along the way, but these 4 lads did excatly what we teach as part of wilderness survival - stay where you are and light a fire to stay warm and signal for help. Good job, Scouts!

I was guessing Teddy Roosevelt, but Nixon was my second choice. Joe - I suppose that could be, though what I was really suggesting is that boat ownership is a form of mental disability since one would have to be somewhat delusional to want to own what is essentially a hole in the water that you pour money into.

I can certainly understand the argument that because the time is freely given, the value is zero. I can understand the argument that the amount one makes in their work-life should be readily transferable to volunteer work. But neither is 100% convincing. The first argument ignores potential earnings - if a person decided to work instead of volunteer, the time would again become valuable. The second argument overstates potential earnings in many cases as it assumes one will be making extra money in one's primary job - that may work for workers who are paid by the hour, or certain professional workers (like lawyers/doctors) who bill by the hour/patient, but it doesn't take into account the number of people on salary who get paid the same amount whether they work 30 hours, 40 hours, 60 hours or 80 hours per week. I think the answer lies in how to determine potential earnings, and the way to do that is to consider it a part-time job in a specific field. My suggestion would be the Outdoor Recreation field. Part of it depends on where you live, of course, but the average salary for a full-time Outdoor Recreation Guide is about $30,000 per year. Part-timers make from $5,000 to $10,000 per year. I would argue that yes, the time is priceless, but in a way it is a part time job with a value in the field of between $5,000 and $10,000 per year, depending on how active your unit is.

Maybe most see this as an issue of having cell phones in the first place. I see this as an issue of appropriate use and timing, and best for the lads to start learning that now, is a friendlier environment, than when they are 17, working a part-time job at a retail store, and learning the hard way by getting fired that there is a time and place for everything. Just because things are Scout-led, doesn't mean that the SM or an ASM couldn't slide up to a scout texting during a Scout's Own, place a hand on a shoulder, and suggest that the texting stop now. Nor should it prevent a leader sitting next to one of his Scouts playing games on a phone instead of paying attention to a meeting from quietly suggesting that the Scout stop playing games and pay attention, rather than sit silently by, possibly seething, for those two hours. Being boy-led isn't an excuse for the SM/ASM's to abrogate discipline issues to to the PLC/SPL. Indeed, I would say those mild, quiet requests/reminders are less about discipline as they are about mentoring, and isn't that one of the main reasons we're there?

Bad news for you yacht and sailboat owners. As part of a new emphasis on wellness, only certain types of boat will qualify for inclusion in health care insurance, namely Kayaks, Canoes and Rowboats. Any boat with a power source other than human labor, ie sail or motor, will be ineligible. An eligible boat will be made ineligible if the owner adds a sail or motor of any size, including electric trolling motor, and any benefits paid in the past will be revoked with re-payment to the US Treasury to be made within 30-days of conversion from human powered craft. Exceptions will only be made for those individuals who meet stringent disability guidelines (ie loss of limbs, paralysis, blindness) - obesity is specifically excluded as a disability, as is owning a boat in the first place. To help those yacht and sailboat owners without windlasses, roller furling, autohelm, outdate navigation equipment, depth finders, bimini shades and transparent sails transition to a healthier boating lifestyle, the government will be offering a cash for clunkers program to remove these outdated boats from our waterways. The cash payment will be enough to cover the cost of one rowboat, one two-person canoe or two kayaks, your choice of style and color, and all the accessories needed to operate these boats. Owners will have to choose their purchase option at the time of clunker turn in. Also included in the payment is one case of SPF-30 sunblock and 2 tubes of Ben Gay to ease muscular distress which often occurs during the transition.

The only time there is violence at a cricket match is when the snack ladies fail to cut the crusts off the cucumber sandwiches and serve the tea cold.

I sometimes think the real problem is encapsulated with the so-called "one and done" philosophy. One and Done, and equally, the antithetical reaction to One and Done (SMC/BOR Testing/Quizzing), takes the Advancement method, elevates it to the top rank, makes all other methods subservient. I think something a lot of folks forget is that the rank requirements are not stand-alone. They often lead to other requirements later. A Scout using EDGE to teach a Square Knot is being given a taste of things to come - check out the requirements to become a Life Scout using EDGE - in a balanced program, this isn't the second time they're using EDGE, they should have been given opportunities to practice what they learned to become Tenderfoot. Once a Scout has been signed off on a skill, that doesn't mean he should stop using it again. There is nothing that says you can't have Bobby Tenderfoot go teach a new Scout how to tie a square knot using EDGE. That isn't a test, that's practice - and if a Scout asks why they have to do it again because they already got that signed off, the answer is three-fold: a) it's practice and b) not everything is done for rank and c) because it's the Scout way. Don't be afraid to think outside your boxes when it comes to rank advancement either. There should be plenty of opportunities for practice, either on outings, or during meetings, or with fun games that might lead to sign-offs. Does your unit do things like knot relays where patrols compete against each other to tie certain knots at a knot board? Hey, was that Ricky Scout who needs to tie a taut-line hitch that just flew up to the knot board when it was his turn and tied a perfect taut-line hitch as part of the game? Was that Bobby Tenderfoot who tied a perfect bowline? Any reason you can't pull them to the side on the way out of the meeting to sign them off on those requirements without making it some formal thing? Did the Scouts in your first year patrol participate in a first aid meet and showed they had a great grasp of the requirements needed for rank but just haven't had a chance to get signed off on them yet? What's stopping you? Sign them off! Many of the requirements can, and should, be signed off just as a matter of course as the Scouts are being active. I think my point is that advancement should be as natural a part of a unit's program as anything else. If you have a good, active program, it will just flow - there should be no real need to plan special times and campouts to work on advancement. It just takes a little bit of time and effort on the part of the SM/ASMs mentoring the SPL/PLC and Instructors/Guides on finding the natural flow. If you're setting up an axeyard at most every campout, is there really a need to schedule totin chip skills sessions for certain camping trips? If a PL knows that they have a newer Scout that needs to work on Totin Chip or something for rank, what would it take for the PL to either pull the lad aside on a bit of free time during the camping trip to work on it, or for the SPL to casually mention to an Instructor that Bobby in the Flaming Arrow Patrol and Joey in the Raven Patrol need Totin Chip - maybe they can carve out some time to take care of that? I know that's how things were done in my home Troop - it seemed to have worked out very well for us.

So if we know what the BSA says about the SMC and rank quizzing, why is it so hard for some folks not to get with the program? Does it really matter what our opinions are? The question should be "do you follow it, and if you don't follow it, what will it take to get you back on the path to true north?"

If I were a Scoutmaster sending an e-mail to folks in my unit, I'd leave it out. Sending to a group of Webelos parents to invite them to a meeting? I'll put it in. Chapter Adviser sending a blast e-mail to a chapter mailing list? It's probably safer to include Chapter Adviser so that the first glance of a parent doesn't panic them that some strange adult is e-mailing their son. For most e-mails, probably not including titles - either the body of my e-mail is going to make clear what capacity I'm writing, or they're going to know me in the first place. Outside of Scouting? Some institutions make a big deal out of them, others don't. Some folks make a big deal out of it - others don't. I tend to find that the folks that don't make a big deal out of their credentials seem to be just a little bit more down to earth and less self-important. My boss is a great guy, but a bit of an academic wonk. He can't start a hobby without throwing himself whole hog into it. He took up gardening but rather than just taking a couple of continuing ed classes to get started, he signed up for a program at a community college and earned an AAS (Associate in Applied Science) in Horticulture. He took up Photography and instead of just buying a camera, earned an AFA (Associate in Fine Arts). Yet the only time he trots out the credentials is when we get someone new on the Board who insists that we use our credentials and then he'll usually send out a pointed e-mail about letting our work speak for us rather than a list of letters behind our names. I dug up the e-mail from the last time this happened - about 2 years ago: Dr. John Smith, AA, AS, AAS, AFA, BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, PhD, EdD, JD, MD. Eamonn might appreciate this more but he likes to joke that if he ever went to Oxford, they'd look at this list of letters and say well that's nice but where's your credentials.

Different regional and state United Way's deal with Directed Contributions differently. Heck, there can be a difference between United Way's in the states. It's important to check out their rules. Some United Ways will only let you direct your donation if you make a minimum donation - and you should be able to find out what that is. You might want to give only $10 and direct it to the Boy Scouts but you may have to give $50 in order to direct a contribution that way. Don't assume that there is no processing fee if you direct funds. United Way isn't going to just take your $50, process it and send it on without covering their administrative costs to do so. If you want $50 to go to the Boy Scouts, donate directly. Each United Way determines their own fee. For example, last year, the fee was 11.34% in Central Iowa so they would lop $5.67 from your $50 as administrative costs. But wait, there's more! There's a minimum $10 admin cost so your $50 is now $40 with essentially a $10 donation to United Way. Oh, and if you have an employer match? Chances are the match won't go to the Boy Scouts, it will go, by policy, to the United Way unrestricted funds. If faced with mandatory giving, and you don't want to make a fuss, give the smallest amount you can. If you want to direct funds, just donate directly to the organization - they'll get a better benefit out of it.

Ah yes, Plan B - "E-Verify". Just additional proof that folks who know just a little bit about something makes them dangerous, or idiots - can never remember which one. We all know that E-verify alerts employers to potential fraudulent usage of social security numbers. For some reason, many people think the word "potential" means "is". And these people apparently haven't read the entire fact sheets that states that just because e-verify identifies a social security number as potentially being used fraudulently, doesn't mean it is being used fraudulently, and that Employers should not automatically disqualify someone based on the e-verify result without making further checks. The e-verify database contains a rather larger number of social security numbers of famous people that will automatically trigger a reaction by e-verify if it is used. People on that list include Governors, Senators, Representatives, Presidents, Cabinet Secretaries, former Presidents, etc. etc. Why, I wouldn't be surprised to find Sheriff Arpaio's social security number popping up under an e-verify check. Of course President Obama's social security number pops up - it's in the directory to do so on purpose.

That's pretty much what I did for the last two years that I was a Den Chief. Although officially assigned to a Webelos Den, I had a co-Den Chief and was considered a "Senior Den Chief" within the Pack structure. The Pack was a large pack, over 100 boys, with many dens, all with Den Chiefs. My responsibilities included helping the Cubmaster with Pack Meetings and Activities, and more importantly, serving as a mentor to the other Den Chiefs. I knw it may not be what the BSA likes, but it worked for us, and as long as the Pack and Troop leadership is on board, then I don't see why it couldn't work for you.

Be the Scout's Advocate

You're absolutely right there is a weakness in your program - that weakness is your Scoutmaster, who has made up his own rules, and a Committee, COR and Parents that are letting him get away with it instead of insisting he follow the program or be replaced. It is unconscionable that you have lads that crossed over a year ago that have not earned Tenderfoot as a result of this guys "policy". You can call in a Unit Commissioner to have a friendly chat with him to see if he can point this Scoutmaster back to true north, or you get the COR and Committee Chair to have a cup of coffee with him to make sure he follows BSA policies and procedures, and not his own. If he won't? Let him go.

I'm not one to believe that every moment of every camping trip needs to be scheduled. Sure, there needs to be a basic schedule - Reveille is at 7:00, breakfast finished by 8:30, including clean-up, then a start to the days activities. Dinner is at 6:00, Cobbler and Campfire (if that's what folks want) at 0-dark 30. (your times may vary). It's those in-between times that are wide open. Maybe something is scheduled - a hike, swimming at the beach, a canoe trip, some advancement stuff, totin-chip classes, etc. but hopefully there is some "down/free" time available for the Scouts to do whatever - organize a frisbee showdown, take a walk with buddies to explore the pond, or just hang out in camp chatting, reading a book or napping - with flexibility to stop whatever is being done if something cool is happening - it could be deer browsing in a field, or watching a weather front coming in, or checking out the constellations, or to change plans when an opportunity comes along (Well gee, Ranger Bob of Nice State Park, thanks for the offer to lead the lads on a Salamander/Frog/Snake Search but we have a Totin Chip class scheduled - uh huh - I'd scrap the Totin Chip class in a heatbeat, as I imagine most of the Boys would) That being said, "If the PLC said that they wanted a " sluggishness" Weekend and you were the SM. What would you do?" My answer to this would be "if you want to be a slug, be a slug at home - and I'll be a slug at my home too. I'm not going to organize/drive/fret/worry if the only thing we're going to do is just hang out and do nothing - it's a waste of my time - and I'd prefer not to ask other adults to waste their time away from home to just hang out and be slugs on a camping trip. You don't have to plan tons of advancement work, or even any advancement work, but there's got to be something other than playing electronic games in the woods in order for it to be worth my time to go - if you want to schedule an hour before dinner to just play computer games, I'm fine with that, but not all day".

I believe a Scout may wear either the patch or the pin, their preference. It makes more sense to wear the patch though - pins get lost when Scouts wear their uniforms while being an active Boy Scout. Here's my take on the pins and patches though, which might help you explain why patches are more appropriate than the pins (other than the obvious). In Cub Scouts, just as in Boy Scouts, we're all about instant recognition (though in Cub Scouts, it's usually done at a Pack Meeting rather than a Den Meeting). The Pins are a great way to involve Mom and Dad in the ceremonial awarding of the Arrow of Light - they can be handed to a parent who then pins it on the pocket flap of their Cub Scout's uniform. For the rest of the Pack Meeting, the lad is wearing his shiny new Arrow of Light award, rather than Mom or Dad holding on to the patch until it can be sewn (if it ever is) on a uniform. Especially these days when Arrow of Light Awards are often given the same day a lad crosses over - he'd never get the opportunity to wear the highest award a Cub Scout can earn on his Cub Scout uniform! Once the night is over, the Pin becomes a keepsake and the patch is sewed on the uniform. The patch is much less likely to be lost. Think about it like the Eagle Scout award. We give a lad both a medal and a patch. He wears the medal the day he receives it - instant recognition. If he's under 18, he'll likely sew on the patch - and if you're wearing the Eagle Scout patch, you don't wear the medal. The medal gets worn on uniforms without the rank patch (until one is 18) and on suit/sport coats (though on special occasions, most people won't make a fuss if an adult is wearing his eagle medal on his adult uniform) but for the most part, it becomes a special keepsake rather than used for day to day wear. Now a Scout may choose to wear the medal rather than the patch the rest of his career as a Scout but most will put the patch on, especially when Mom or Dad insists that they not lose it.

My first question is why wasn't your son given the latest lodge flap when he completed his Ordeal? Are you in one of those nitwit Lodges that don't give flaps to people until they become Brotherhood? The leadership of those Lodges, youth, adults, and professional, should be pelted with peanuts at every event until they understand how stupid such a policy is. On to the question. In my opinion, you should wear the Lodge Flap you were given upon completion of Ordeal. If it changes in 5 years and you want to buy the latest and wear it, I'd consider that a personal preference, but I would wear the one I first got. I wouldn't wear any special flaps for NOAC, Winter Banquets, Jamborees, etc. but if it was a "requirement" of the Lodge or Jamboree Troop, I'd wear it for the length of the event - once NOAC or Jamboree was over, back to the regular flap. Personally, I consider them trading patches, not my Lodge flap. If it's an option, I'd wear my regular Lodge flap, unless and especially for things like NOAC and Jamborees - if the Lodge Flap you have is a rare item for trading - I know of some Lodges that have (even though I believe it's technically no longer allowed) "restricted" patches (my Lodge has a 2 for life policy - one at Ordeal one at Brotherhood - not available for sale - the real restriction was you couldn't trade or sell it, if you did that, you were banned from the Lodge for life) and some Lodges that have a new flap every year for that year's new Ordeal and Brotherhood members not available for sale to anyone else - then I would probably wear a NOAC or Jamboree flap to make sure my flap wasn't ripped off my shirt (unfortunately, I've seen a Trader do this at the Grant Pilgrimage - tear a Lodge flap off a boys pocket because it wasn't available for trade and he "had to have it" to help fill out his collecton - fortunately, that boy was in a Troop with an ASM who was an FBI agent, and was able to point the guy out to his ASM later that day - lesson learned for all of us from that Lodge - don't wear your flap in Galena). Now again, personal preference, I wouldn't wear an older flap if it was different from my Lodge's current flap or the flap I first got (though in my Lodge's case, the official Lodge Flap design hasn't changed except for the addition of a fleur-de-lis when that became required - if you know the history, you can tell the folks that got flaps before 1982, spring 1982 and fall 1982 and later. Pre-1982 - no fleur-de-lis. Spring 1982 - fleur-de-lis in an unfortunate position - right under the hind end of a flying goose. Fall 1982 and after, a much better position for the fleur-de-lis). But that's a personal preference - if someone is in the same Lodge that their father or grandfather was in, and the family member gave their flap for their kin to wear, I wouldn't hesitate to think that was cool. So to summarize - my etiquette would be: 1A) Wear the flap you received as an Ordeal member (or as a Brotherhood or Vigil member if given a flap after those ceremonies) or 1B) Wear the current Lodge flap 2) Don't wear special event flaps, unless it's a short term thing 3) Don't wear flaps that pre-date you, unless they have special meaning and of course 4) Don't wear the flap of a Lodge you don't belong to.

Is it something the Troop or Patrol has done together that is not a meeting? Then it's an activity. If the patrol decides to get together as a pstrol on a Saturday morning to play frisbee golf? Patrol activity and it counts. Troop gets together on a Saturday morning to clean out the Troop trailer? Troop activity and it counts. Pretty much everything everyone has listed could and should be considered an activity. Activities don't always have to be outdoors, or advancement focused - sometimes - in fact most time - it should just be plain old fun. Qwazse asks an interesting question though (and since I'm usually the first one to jump to the lads side on most every advancement question, I might make Beavah and a couple of others faint). A Scout attends a Council (or District) event on his own, not with the Troop or with his Patrol - and it's not part of the Troop's calendar. I don't believe I would accept it as an activity because the requirement isn't to attend 5 (or 10) Scouting activities - it's attend 5 (or 10) Troop/Patrol activities. Now if a lad was to ask if it would count before going to the activity, I might gather the PLC together for a 5 minute confab to see if they would add the activity to the Troop's calendar as an "optional" activity that a Scout would need to find his own way there, and if agreed upon, make sure that all the other Scouts are informed of the activity and let them know they have the option to go on their own, but if they were to approach me afterward, I'd ask if they had a good time and let them know that it's just not a Troop/Patrol activity but not to worry because we have activity X coming up in the next couple of weeks.